If you were playing a Western game, what would you expect the standard character options/playbooks to be?

If you were playing a Western game, what would you expect the standard character options/playbooks to be?

If you were playing a Western game, what would you expect the standard character options/playbooks to be?

How does your answer change if there are supernatural elements?

14 thoughts on “If you were playing a Western game, what would you expect the standard character options/playbooks to be?”

  1. Depends how granular you want to get. You could have Townsfolk, Merchant, or Saloon Owner. I think I would want to have as wide a lens as possible and let player choice narrow the characters down. I also might consider a “choose one from pile A and one from pile B” type of thing.

  2. Everyone can shoot a gun. Anyone can become sheriff. You are beholden to the law or not. If you own something, you are beholden (farmer, rancher, salooneer, barber, undertaker, stagecoach driver). If you represent something, you are an outlaw (deputy, rail boss, doctor, bandit, mayor).

  3. Normal:

    * Law Officer of some kind, with a strong community hold.

    * Big-time Criminal, with strong community hold. Set up things so that if they and Law Officer are in the same game, they have as much reason to work together as against each other, so that ideally they start the game in an uneasy stand-off/truce rather than with guns blazing.

    * Heir, who gets some kinda huge setting element – important land, train, whatever – but not the sort of stats or moves that will let them defend it on their own, and some moves to help those that are helping them.

    * Gambler, with stuff that lets them cheat in character and retroactively declare and reveal plans.

    * More loner-ish wanderer character who has moves that let them declare someone under their protection, and a move that gives them a benefit when they switch sides.

    * Killer side of wanderer type character – perhaps vengeance-focused option move if no revenant in the game, but definitely on the morally ambiguous side of things. Not necessarily full out evil – some Western protagonists are more like this.

    Supernatural:

    * Vengeance-Focused Revenant – when they’ve fully satisfied their vengeance(player’s call), they can return to their rest

    * Prophet – can foretell future, and some sort of mechanical impetus to make the future lean in that direction. Maybe a optional healing move. Maybe a optional ‘fighting in places without proper lighting’ move.

    * A pyrokinetic/telekinetic whose supernatural moves get power added to them over time (each time hurt or betrayed or something?), and that power gets drained each time they use them – kinda a ‘undrawn gun’ metaphor – blazing with pyro/tele powers all the times doesn’t seem very Western, but building up to a blaze of fury seems like it’d fit very well.

    * Someone who makes deals with the devil/some demon/equivalent force.

    If Supernatural, some of the other classes might get a supernatural move option or two – Killer and Gambler, mostly.

  4. Gunslinger

    Law Dog

    Outlaw Gentleman/Shady Lady

    Smith/Professional

    City Slicker

    Snake Oil Hawker

    Heathen/Native

    Soldier

    Preacher

    Bandit

    Thief

    with Magic:

    Shaman

    Magician (stage or otherwise)

    Trickster

    Crone/Hermit

    Weird Scientist

    Yeah, I run Deadlands, but I tried to think outside that box a bit.

  9. We have been playing Cowboy World for a year now without playbooks but with archetypes (over 40 of them), FATE-like character aspects and skills. If anybody is interested, pm me!

  10. Thinking about it, base aw works pretty good. Choppers are bandits, hardholder’s the mayor or sheriff. Gun luger and battle babe are self explainitor. Angel is the doc, hocus is the preacher, brainer is the snake oil salesman or shaman, and skinner is the guy on the piano or the burlesque dancer. It’s all nicely covered.

  14. Marshall Miller, Keith Stetson,  I second the YES!

    A lawyer represents the law by some trained educations, which makes ’em an outlaw on their own… yet when a lawyer owns a law office in town, that’d be making ’em beholden to the licensed title.

    Might add that someone could be directly beheld in some measure to another person or entity (legitified slave, indentured serf, obligated accessor, hired hand) or wanted by some person or entity (fugitive, deserter, absconder, mark)

    …and wanted persons and/or objects, also adds the Recovery Agent to the list in this thread of possible professional playbooks.

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